Thoughts from a homeschooling mom of ten

Menu

Making a Difference

One person can make a difference.

Take Noah for example. Reading about Noah encourages me to no end! Sometimes if I feel overwhelmed at the state of things today, I read about Noah’s day, when concerning the wickedness of mankind, God said, “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).

But in the midst of this where “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11), Noah “was a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Gen. 6:9). And so he made a difference. He obeyed God, built an enormous ark, and God used this one man to save mankind and animals from utter destruction.

Even if the whole world is wicked, violent, and corrupt, I don’t have to be. I can make a difference.

Oskar Schindler, a business man, saved 1000 Jewish people from death. One man…and not a terribly noble one to begin with.

The mother of the famous Ten Boom family was always serving people and making a difference. Even after she suffered paralysis and could only say “yes” or “no”, she would have her family ask her “yes” or “no” questions, and in this way get them to send a birthday greeting to this one or an encouraging message to that one. She brought joy to people even in her paralyzed state.

One doesn’t have to have amazing abilities to make a difference. A loving, caring heart is enough.

Several of our friends have made a difference in their places of work, simply by being a kind and loving ear, being ready to share the hope that they have in God. Lives have been totally transformed by these “normal” individuals in an average work environment.

I love the story Corrie Ten Boom tells in chapter 31 of “Tramp for the Lord”, where she recounts visiting an elderly lady in communist Russia many years ago. This lady’s body was “bent and twisted almost beyond recognition by the dread disease of multiple sclerosis” and was unable to move off the sofa. Each day her husband would feed her and prop her up with cushions, bring her a typewriter, and she would type with the one finger that worked on her gnarled and deformed hand. She would type with her one finger, translating portions of the Bible and Christian literature into Russian, Latvian, and Lithuanian. When Corrie was in anguish that God hadn’t healed this woman, her husband explained that every other Christian in the city was watched by the secret police, but because of her extreme deformity, she was left alone and therefore able to do this. She worked on this right until she died.

One person making a difference with what she had…one finger. And a heart of love for God and others.

A mom can make a difference. Giving her children a solid, loving foundation, teaching them truth, training them in the way that they should go…I have seen that a normal mom like myself can make a difference. So can a dad. So can a boss. Or an employee. Or….